Please note: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices or names of deceased persons in photographs, film, audio recordings or printed material.

Some material may contain terms that reflect authors’ views, or those of the period in which the item was written or recorded, but may not be considered appropriate today. These views are not necessarily the views of AIATSIS. While the information may not reflect current understanding, it is provided in an historical context.

You are here

Aboriginal rights to water: WA reform and opportunity

Friday, 3 June 2016

Presenter/s:

Darren Forster

The Indigenous people of Australia own or control1 almost 30%2 of the country’s land mass, yet their specific water entitlements are estimated at less 0.01% of Australian water diversions.3 As the Western Australian (WA) government moves further along the path to water reform, there is rare occasion for them to go some way towards remedying this disparity. Should the proposed new legislation incorporate Aboriginal views, rights, priorities and interests into the legislative scheme, it would create opportunities and rightfully acknowledge the customary rights and future aspirations of our nation’s first peoples’. This is important in order to maintain their fundamental human rights,4 and to “protect, preserve and maintain the lifeways and territories of Indigenous peoples’ and local communities.”5 The intent of this paper is to examine the water law framework of WA and the Commonwealth, and to propose potential solutions that will aid the reform process in better incorporating Indigenous perspectives, aspirations and rights.